Templo Mayor

The Templo Mayor was a major sacred temple in the time of the Aztecs that followed through the reigns of several rulers. The temple, along with its twin temples as well as, the sculpture dedicated to the moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui located at the bottom of the temple held an over lasting importance for the many generations that continued. The Aztecs held the Templo dearly in their culture since it held religious as well as a huge social significance that shaped their civilization. Historians will often have different perspectives as to what the significance of the temple during Aztec times was and many will have the same idea, such as Cecilia Klein and Eduardo Matos Moctezuma. Their views as to the significance of the temple are similar

in many ways. In terms to historical significance, historians will bring their own views as to how temples, monuments as well as events are deemed as important. Each historian analyzes differently and sees the temple differently.

Such as the Aztecs viewed the temple as an important temple during their time and historians can see it the same as well but each has their own analytical style. But many people today, in different countries, do not see the temple as an important or significant aspect in their lives since a major factor that affects how people view objects and events is time.
The templo mayor, sits in the of a square ceremonial precinct of the four-quarter system, the center of the city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was the capital city for the Aztecs. The Templo’s represented the access through the city as well as to the celestial and under world. The significance of its twin temples dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the war god, Tlaloc, the rain god, and the sculpture of the moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui goes with a story which the Aztecs would hold rituals to show the importance of it.

Coyolxauhqui was killed by her brother, Huitzilopochtli since she set out to kill their mother, Coatlicue, Coyolxauhqui set along with her star deity brothers, or Centzon Huitznaua, to finish the deed. The reason of trying to kill their mother was because Coatlicue was pregnant from feathers she stuck in her bosom which her other children found to be a sin that their future brother, Huitzilopochtli, would be born without a father. Huitzilopochtli came to his mother’s rescue in which he came out of her womb and then killed his siblings with his weapon, the fire serpent, which he decapitated his sister and her head, which fell down the mountain became the moon. This battle, shows the defeat of the moon by the sun. That is why the sun rises every day to the Aztecs, to show the battle between Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauhqui. Her sculpture, located at the bottom of the Templo, is located on the ground as a kind of disrespect to herself since the people allowed into the temple step over her. Each god that was worshipped during the Aztec times was viewed to equally bring riches and bring calamity to their lands if the Aztecs’ did not please the gods. To please the gods, the huei tlatoani, the main communicator to the gods, would perform sacrifices and communicate to the gods to bring peace and plentiful harvest for the Aztecs. The Aztecs
Cecelia Klein’s account for the significance of the Templo Mayor, her document begins with the story of the great city of Tenochtitlan, which goes that “the Mexica had left Aztlan at the command of their tutelary deity Huitzilopochtli, “hummingbird-left.” Huitzilopochtli had promised them that that could finally settle down again when they see an eagle land on a nopal.” (Klein, 39), Klein speaks heavily toward the importance of water to the Mexica.

Her views on water, as connected to Tlaloc, the rain god whose statue was located in the northern shrine of the Templo, was that many of the reports from the conquerors contained information on how the Aztecs did their offerings. Klein focuses heavy on the Aztec rituals, such as the many that took place in the temples. Their rituals were planned through their calendar system, which followed a strict cycle that were focused on the spring

months.